Lessons on Faith from a Dying Man

Today we continue with the Epistle of James, written to a congregation that the writer feels has strayed. Dr. Tammy Lewis Wilborn, our Congregational Care Intern, is preaching today and begins with her experience working at Alive Hospice this summer and her perspective on faith in the face of dying, citing a patient who, in tears, said he hoped God knew of his love for God. She reminds us that from the cross even Jesus cried out with a feeling of having been forsaken by God. Faith is complicated, but in our being tied together we are each well when the other is well, and our faith can be built and sustained on a constant relationship in prayer with God. The writer of James calls us to such consistent relationship with God, not just calling on God in times of need. And the writer of James repeatedly emphasizes the crucial importance of prayer to sustain the relationships with each other and with God.